Now that Garfield has wadded up the spaghetti and put it in his armpit, Jon is not interested in eating it. On first scan, the gag is that the cat has swiped his master's dinner yet again. Garfield's inventive ruse, disguising the pasta as a ball of yarn, takes advantage of both the feline propensity for yarn-assisted frolics and the strip's art style which does not allow the eye to readily distinguish between food and fabric.
And that joke is there. Garfield steals this food although Jon's phrasing probably implies that Garfield was going to get a portion of spaghetti anyway. If his motivation were just to eat unseasoned, plain spaghetti, Garfield could have completed his mission alone in the kitchen. If he feared Jon's return to the kitchen, Garfield could have concealed the food as he spirited it away to a safe location. Garfield goes through unnecessary labor and trickery to dupe Jon for a matter of seconds.
Because ultimately this is not about Garfield's appetite for food. Garfield wants Jon to know that dinner is ruined. He wants Jon to know that he could have stopped it. He wants that middle panel, that moment where Jon realizes what is happening, what it means, that the man is a fool and the cat is triumphant, malicious, and a complete prick. And that, ladies and Nermals, is another sort of appetite.
And: I don't want to turn into one of those guys, but the missing hyphen in Jon's first word balloon makes my palms itch. As long as I'm being one of those guys anyway, that looks more like a fettuccine or tagliatelle.
14 comments:
Okay, they've definitely done this "yarn ball is actually spaghetti" gag before. It was quite a while back - long enough back that I recall it from one of the black-and-white books, before the jump to the big full-color ones.
And yes, Garfield is a sadist.
If you read the absent hyphen as unintentional, then Jon makes a Tonto-style observation of the absurdity of his own condition in the first panel. It is odd Jon looking ball of yarn so intently. Also odd talking during stroke.
That should have been "If you read the absent hyphen as _intentional_..." As usual, snark provides its own comeuppance.
and that is what I have always loved about Garfield, he is such a prick, but a lovable one.
Every time I get excited for more PerMon updates, I find they have ended before I begin. Not that I care anything; I mean, it's just a big fat hairy deal... right?
Have you ever thought about doing a book about Garfield?
Please come back to this blog, Chris. I miss it so.
I just discovered this blog, and it's brilliant! Hopefully there's enough in the archives to keep me entertained for a while. :)
That's weird, no more updates... oh well, maybe I shall read through the archives.
Well, here it is, the moment I have dreaded: I have run out of Per-Mon analyses to read. I started at #1 and have been reading through them all over the course of a few days, dreading the moment when I would finally run out.
Oh cruel world!
I actually love this blog! The explanations and further explanation of the humor really kicked things up a notch for Garfield. Furthermore, the irony of Johns existence is really amazingly clarified in these posts! As Garfield says "This is one big and hairy deal!" (I don't even know if he actually said that)
Gooper Blooper is correct, at least in that he's (read as "Garfield" or "Jim"; both are correct) done it before. And again, Garfield has let Jon know that the spaghetti (or whatever pasta) that dinner is ruined instead of simply eating it in the kitchen. The major difference is that in the 2010 one, Jon is somewhat quicker on the uptake, in that he needs not even go to the refrigerator to realize that Garfield has taken the noodles, whereas in the 1993 one, he only perhaps pieces it together once he looks in the refrigerator. (I personally think he pretty much always knows whose responsibility missing food is once he realizes it is missing.)
Garfield actually says "Big FAT hairy deal". Anyway, this blog is cool, providing a somewhat darker side to the Garfield comics. ;) Too bad the author doesn't update anymore... Also, the anon says "maybe I shall read through the archives" was me, posted on January 26, 2015, 11:03 PM (I just clicked on Subscribe to Post Comments (Atom) at the bottom of the permalink to the post).
And what about the Meatballs?
Post a Comment